


The Sacrifice

by almygdala



Category: Original Work
Genre: 300 words, Animal Death, Animal Sacrifice, Cows, Darkness, Flash Fiction, Gothic, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Short Story, Southern Gothic, Storms, gentle horror, gun mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29344617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/almygdala/pseuds/almygdala





	The Sacrifice

There was a clash of thunder, and you were awake. Your room was soaked in darkness, and the air heavy and humid. You were alone in the house that night, and the cows had just come back from the fields. You could hear them splashing wildly in the mud, lowing desperately- screaming, almost. You laid still, weighed down by your blankets in the dark, and your chest ached. Another crash of thunder, deep and rolling. The dogs began to howl outside, and the wind whipped up into an angry blast, shaking your window panes, ripping clumps of grass from the earth. But your room was still, and you listened to the ticking of a clock beside your bed. You stared into the dark. Another bang of thunder, a flash of lightening. The pressure in your chest grew, weighing you down, down. Something broke in the field; a sick splitting noise, and the scream of a cow. The dogs growled at the wind, bit at it feverishly. Your throat was tight. Another boom of thunder, and the clock stopped.  


The morning was as dark as the night had been. You took your rifle outside with you. The dogs were nervous, gnawing on fallen branches, tearing up the mud. The cattle were in a worse shape, huddled in the corner of their field, as though frightened at the emptiness of it. But on the hill is where it happened. A glorious oak had snapped in two, splintered like a broken bone, and beneath it lay the bull. He was scarred across his body, and there was a great hole bored into his chest and driven through his heart. His eyes were raised upward, but there was no more to see. Everything was dark.  


Everything was dark.


End file.
